ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Culture
Second day of the auction of Prime Minister’s Mementos witnesses incredible support from the public
Highest bid went upto Rs. 5 Lakh each for a Wooden bike and Painting
The second day of the auction, of gifts presented to the Prime Minister, received tremendous response. Today was the last day of the physical auction and from tomorrow e-auction of the gift items will start on the portal www.pmmementos.gov.in which will continue till 31st January,2019. A wooden bike and a painting were auctioned in the second session and were sold at the highest bid of Rs. 5 Lakh each against its base price of Rs. 40,000 and 50,000 respectively.
The Union Minister of state for Culture , Dr. Mahesh Sharma interacted with the bidders in which he thanked them for showing such an incredible support for the noble cause of Namami Gange. He also added that the vision of Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi is highly revered and his noble initiative to create fund for cleaning River Ganga has been welcomed by all quarters of the society.
One of the bidders, Mrs. Suman Jain purchased the Memento of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan not just to support the noble charitable cause but also to show her support towards the vision of the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi.
Another participant at the auction, Mrs. Pramila Gupta purchased the Memento of Daksheshwara Temple as she is an ardent follower of the teachings associated with the temple.
A memento of Golden Temple received by Prime Minister was auctioned at Rs. 3.5 Lakh against its start price of Rs. 10,000/-
A photo frame of the Ashtamangalam with base price of Rs. 1500 was sold for Rs 28000/-.
The second session also witnessed higher bids which included a metallic sword sold for Rs. 1 Lakh against its base price of Rs. 5000. Also the statue of Mahatma Basaveshwara was auctioned at Rs 70,000 against its base price of Rs 10,000.
The gift items were on display for the general public at National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi. Dignitaries such as Union Minister for Science and Technology, Earth Sciences, Forest and Climate Change, Dr. Harsh Vardhan and Member of Parliament, Shri Udit Raj were present at the auction among other dignitaries from art and culture fraternity today.
Special Service and Features
INTERNATIONAL COASTAL CLEAN-UP DAY TO BE HELD AT MARINA AND ELLIOTS BEACHES TOMORROW
The oceans have been treated as a dumping ground for man-made waste generated all-round the globe. Marine debris collected from oceans indicates that majority of non-biodegradable waste has emanated from land sources, particularly plastic waste from urban centers and industrial entities. Ocean debris has caused catastrophic effects on marine flora and fauna affecting safe habitat for marine animals.
International Coastal Cleanup  was started as part of UN Environment Programme  initiative in 1986 to sensitize coastal populace on conservation of oceans and prevent dumping of waste into oceans. ICC is celebrated worldwide during the month of September every year.
Indian Coast Guard, an Armed Force of the union has been undertaking various programs to generate widespread awareness on ocean conservation and protection of marine ecology amongst the coastal population, particularly the fishing community as part of International Coastal Cleanup Drive.
At Chennai, Headquarters, Indian Coast Guard Region East is organizing International Coastal Cleanup Day 2023 at Marina and Elliot’s Beach. The event is scheduled to commence at 0600 Hrs on 16 Sep 23. Personnel from ICG, Govt. agencies, NGOs, and students from Colleges will be participating in the event. Citizens from Chennai are also invited to be part of this International campaign to keep our beaches clean and contribute towards conservation of Marine Environment.
Ministry of Defence
IAF and FASF Conclude Ex Desert Knight 2021
The Indian Air Force and French Air and Space Force participated in Ex Desert Knight 2021 at Air Force Station Jodhpur. A first of its kind bilateral exercise , Rafale aircraft from both sides along with Su-30 MKI and Mirage 2000 aircraft of the IAF undertook complex missions including Large Force Engagements. Combat enablers included AWACS, AEW&C aircraft of the IAF as well as A400M and A330 based MRTT  aircraft of the FASF. Both Air Forces exercised in realistic settings with an aim to enhance operational capabilities and interoperability. The exercise provided an opportunity to share best practices and evolve operational concepts; particularly for effective combat employment of the Rafale fleet.
Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat PVSM UYSM AVSM YSM SM VSM ADC visited Air Force Station Jodhpur on 21st January 2021 and interacted with participating forces. He also flew on-board the MRTT along with Maj Gen Laurent Lherbette, the FASF contingent leader where he was given an overview on conduct of the exercise and witnessed air-to-air refuelling operations by IAF & FASF fighters.
On 23rd January 2021, Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria PVSM AVSM VM ADC visited Air Force Station Jodhpur along with the Ambassador of France to India, H.E. Mr Emmanuel Lenain. The Distinguished Visitors were received by Air Marshal SK Ghotia PVSM VSM AOC-in-C SWAC. CAS interacted with members of IAF and FASF contingents. He expressed his appreciation on the complexity of operations conducted and interoperability achieved by participants within a short span of 4 days. He also commended the planning, operational and maintenance staff from both sides for smooth and safe conduct of the exercise. CAS wished the FASF contingent the very best for the next phase of their Skyros deployment.
Ministry of Rural Development
Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj to launch Rural Connectivity GIS Data in Public Domain tomorrow
GIS Data for 800,000+ rural facilities, 1 Million+ habitations and 25,00,000 km+ of rural roads collected and digitised using GIS platform will be made available to the public
National Rural Infrastructure Development Agency  will be signing MoU with 3 renowned GIS Firms & collaborating with Gati Shakti for releasing the Rural Connectivity GIS Data in Public Domain
Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Shri Giriraj Singh will launch Rural Connectivity GIS Data in Public Domain at 12 PM on 22nd February, 2022 in India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.
Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana  was launched in the year 2000, with an objective to provide all-weather road connectivity to eligible unconnected habitations throughout the nation. Later on upgradation and consolidation of through routes and major rural links was also included as its objective to give fillip to the rural economy. Since inception, 7.83 lakh Km roads have been sanctioned and 6.90 lakh Km have been constructed with an expenditure of Rs. 2.69 lakh crores.
As part of the implementation of PMGSY, GIS data for 800,000+ rural facilities as points, 1 Million + habitations and 25,00,000+ km of rural roads have been collected and digitised using GIS platform developed for the scheme. The collected rural connectivity GIS data will be available to the public.
NRIDA, the nodal implementation agency of PMGSY scheme will be signing MoU with 3 renowned GIS Firms & collaborating with Gati Shakti for releasing the Rural Connectivity GIS Data in Public Domain. Gati Shakti is a national master plan and digital platform to plan and execute infrastructure projects in India to reduce logistics costs and enhance infrastructure. NRIDA is collaborating with Gati Shakti with an objective to exchange the data for the better planning and implementation of both the schemes.
The launch of GIS data will be followed by technical session where presentation by ESRI India, MapmyIndia, DataMeet, Gati Shakti and CDAC Pune will be made.
Ministry of Finance
Reform linked borrowing permissions lead to various citizen centric reforms in the States
9 States have successfully completed One Nation One Ration Card Reform
Reform linked borrowing permission of Rs.23,523 crore issued to these States
In view of the challenges posed by the COVID 19 pandemic for mobilisation of financial resources, the Government of India has strengthened the hands of the States through multiple measures. These included grant of additional borrowing permission of 2% of the Gross State Domestic Product  in the year 2020-21. This has enabled the States to mobilise additional financial resources to fight the pandemic and maintain the standards of service delivery to the public. However, to ensure long-term debt sustainability and prevent any adverse impact on future, a part of the additional borrowing was linked to the States carrying out reforms in the sectors critical for service delivery to the citizens.
One of the sectors identified for reforms is the Public Distribution System. Out of the additional borrowing limit of 2% of GSDP, 0.25% is linked to implementation of “One Nation One Ration Card system”. This was aimed to ensure that the beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act  and other welfare schemes, especially the migrant workers and their families, get ration from any Fair Price Shop  across the country. Other aims of the intended reform were to better target beneficiaries, elimination of bogus/ duplicate/ ineligible ration cards and thus enhance welfare and reduce leakage. For this, the reform conditions stipulated Aadhar Seeding of all Ration Cards, biometric authentification of beneficiaries and automation of all the Fair Price Shops  in the State.
So far nine States have successfully completed reforms in PDS and implemented One Nation One Ration System. These States are : Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh. On completion of reforms, additional borrowing permission of Rs.23,523 crore has been issued to them. The State-wise amount of additional borrowing permitted on account of implementing One Nation One Ration Card system is as under :
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Name of the State
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Amount of Permission accorded

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Andhra Pradesh
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2,525.00
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Goa
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223.00
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Gujarat
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4,352.00
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Haryana
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2146.00
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Karnataka
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4,509.00
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Kerala
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2,261.00
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Telangana
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2,508.00
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Tripura
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148.00
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Uttar Pradesh
|
|
4,851.00
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Total
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23,523.00
Department of Food and Public Distribution in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution is the Nodal Department to certify that a State has met the conditions stipulated for this reform. Further, to become eligible for additional borrowing, the States have to complete the reforms by 31st December, 2020. It is expected that many more States will complete this reform before the stipulated date.
In addition to the One Nation One Ration Card, other reforms specified as a precondition to avail additional borrowing are : ease of doing business reform, urban local body/ utility reforms and power sector reforms.
RM/KMN
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Ministry of Steel
No disruption of steel production or oxygen supply took place due to Cyclone Yaas
Ministry of Steel held meeting with all major steel players on 23rd May, along with Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, in order to ascertain the likely impact of Cyclone Yaas on steel making and on oxygen production. The representatives of the Ministry of Power and the concerned state Government were also present. It emerged that only plants located in Odisha and West Bengal would be impacted. Hence all measures were taken to ensure that power failures do not take place. It was also planned that temporarily for 2 to 4 days, the states which were dependent onKalinganagar and Angul plants of Odisha would draw from TATA Jamshedpur plant. It is confirmed that no power disruption was experienced by any steel plant located in Angul, Kalinganagar and Rourkela in Odisha. TATA representatives, who have plants in Odisha have confirmed that there has not been any impact of cyclone Yaas on the LMO production on the Tata Steel plants.
Dispatch of LMO from all the attached oxygen plants in Kalinganagar, Jamshedpur and Angul continued as usual without any disruption.
There was a reduction in tankers reaching Kalinganagar as the same were diverted to Jamshedpur. This was as per the contingency plan because of the impending cyclone. SAIL plants at Durgapur,Burnpur and Rourkela were also well prepared. The SOP for handling such situations was reiterated to all concerned.No disruption of steel production or oxygen supply took place. Similarly, JSPL and JSW who have plants in Angul and Jharsuguda in Odisha were well prepared and did not face any disruption during cyclone Yaas.
Ministry of Labour & Employment
Ministry of Labour& Employment refutes tweet pursuant to a news story on reskilling of retrenched workers
The Ministry of Labour and Employment has issued the following statement in respect of a tweet dated 8.3.21 following a news item published in Business Standard on 11.10.20.
“This is in reference to the tweet of Shri SomeshJha dated 8.3.21 in relation to his news article titled “Reskill or Refund: Retrenched Workers face Hobson’s choice” published in Business Standard dated 11.10.2020.
“2. Again the tweet represents half and selective facts. The notings quoted itself reads “…it is to be decided…” and it does not state a decision. The decision-making process in Government is continuous and a matter is finalized after considering the inputs of functionaries at various levels. Notings dated 26.10.20 which have been quoted in the tweet was reviewed and draft Rules were finalized on 28.10.20 at the level of Hon’ble Minister. Thereafter, the Government pre-published the draft Rules in Industrial Relations Code including on section 83 on 29.10.20 in public domain for stakeholder consultation which are extracted as under:
“35. Manner of utilization of fund under sub-section  of section 83.- Every employer who has retrenched a worker or workers under this Code, shall, within ten days, at the time of retrenching a worker or workers shall electronically transfer an amount equivalent to fifteen days of last drawn wages of such retrenched worker or workers in the account ) to be maintained by the Central Government. The fund so received shall be transferred by the Central Government to each worker or workers‘ account electronically within forty five days of receipt of funds from the employer and the worker shall utilize such amount for his re-skilling. The employer shall also submit the list containing the name of each worker retrenched the amount equivalent to fifteen days of wages last drawn in respect of each worker along with their bank account details to enable the Central Government to transfer the amount in their respective account.”
“3. Hence, neither thenews article dated 12.10.20was factually correct nor the tweet dated 08.03.2021represents the complete truth and is based on selective use of information obtained through RTI when the noting quoted is also subsequent to the date of publication of the Article.”
Ministry of Railways
MoU between SCR of Indian Railways and SBI for Doorstep Banking covering all 585 Stations of the Zone
This will enable better supervision and accountability by making available real time information about the cash being deposited by different railway stations
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between South Central Zone of Indian Railways and State Bank of India for Doorstep Banking for direct pickup of earnings covering all 585 Railway stations over SCR Zone. The direct pick up of cash from all the railway stations on SCR as per the MoU dispenses with the tedious and complex activity of movement of cash earnings through “Cash Safes” by trains. This will enable hassle free collection of traffic earnings by SBI and remittance into Government account avoiding delay in transmission of traffic cash earnings.
The MoU was signed by Dr B.S.Christopher, Chief Commercial Manager, Freight Services and Shri J.Meghanath, Financial Advisor and Chief Accounts Officer, Traffic on behalf of South Central Railway and Shri Surendra Nayak, Deputy General Manager, Digital and Transaction Banking Unit, SBI, Hyderabad Circle.
Major benefits from the MoU are as follows:
- All the railway stations will have uniform cash remittance mechanism.
- Real time information about the cash being deposited by different stations which will help in better supervision and accountability.
- Avoidance of unwanted accumulation of cash at railway stations.
- Smart way of remittance of station earnings.
Speaking on the occasion, General Manager, South Central Railway, Shri Gajanan Mallya expressed happiness with the tie-up and opined that such understandings will go a long way in streamlining financial transactions accounting.
Prior to the MoU, the earnings generated at smaller railway stations each day were being manually sent with the Guard of nominated trains while in case of major stations, earnings were being remitted by the concerned commercial supervisor at the nominated nearest banks, which necessitated that Security escorts from Railway Protection Force  personnel accompany the official. The existing procedure held scope for delay in remittances of cash owing to various factors such as holidays, availability of man power etc. The newly introduced facility of door step banking as per the MoU will do away with the difficulties faced earlier, besides increasing the pace of financial transactions and digitization of remittance of cash earnings of the Railways.
Ministry of Agriculture &
Farmers Welfare
Cabinet approves extension of repayment date for short term loans for agriculture and allied activities by banks which have become due or shall become due between 1st March, 2020 and 31st August, 2020
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval to extend repayment date upto 31.08.2020 for Standard Short-Term loans upto Rs.3 lakh advanced for agriculture and allied activities by banks, which have become due or shall become due between 1st March, 2020 and 31st August, 2020 with continued benefit of 2% Interest Subvention  to Banks and 3% Prompt Repayment Incentive  to farmers.
Benefit:
Extension of repayment date upto 31.08.2020 for Standard Short-Term loans upto Rs.3 lakh for agriculture and allied activities by banks falling due between 1st March, 2020 and 31st August, 2020 with continued benefit of 2% IS to Banks and 3% PRI to farmers, shall help the farmers to repay/renew such loans upto the extended repayment date of 31.08.2020 at 4% p.a., interest without attracting any penalty and thus help them in avoiding travelling to banks for such renewal during this COVID pandemic period.
Background
Govt. is providing concessional Standard Short-Term Agri-loans to farmers through banks with 2% p.a, interest subvention to banks and 3% additional benefit on timely repayment to farmers thus providing loans upto Rs,3 lakh at 4% p.a. interest on timely repayment.
In the wake of lockdown due to ongoing Covid 19 pandemic, there have been restrictions imposed on movement of people. Many farmers are not able to travel to bank branches for payment of their short term crop loan dues. Moreover, due to restrictions on movement of people, difficulty in timely sale, receipt of payment of their produce and the necessity of adhering to social distancing norms, farmers are finding it difficult to arrange the amount to be deposited for renewal and are unable to visit the banks to deposit and draw fresh loans.
VRRK/SH
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Ministry of Commerce & Industry
Bengal has potential to become an intrinsic hub of tourism, education: WB Governor at BGBS-22 Prime Minister's “Look East, Act East” policy has opened tremendous growth potential for the eastern states of the country especially for West Bengal: Governor
Kolkata, April, 20, 2022
West Bengal has enormous potential. It has potential to become an intrinsic hub of tourism, education, other industries and other sectors including coal, iron ore and so on. It has unrivalled resources and this needs to be harnessed at optimum level, said West Bengal Governor, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar in his inaugural address at the Bengal Global Business summit here in Kolkata today. The Governor urged all the business tycoons and industrialists to implore and leverage the tremendous opportunities available in Bengal, especially in the sectors like tourism. North Bengal has a number of sanctuaries despite the focus being on Sunderbans, he said, adding that there are enormous opportunities in the food processing industry, minerals, ports etc in the state as well.
Historically before independence, Bengal was a land of opportunity and it is time to replicate the past. This can fructify with the state government and the Centre working together.
The Governor also reminded of the need for a joint initiative by the Union and state governments to work for the economic development of the state by attracting new investments.
The Governor also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Look East, Act East” policy has opened tremendous growth potential for the eastern states of the country especially for West Bengal. The Prime Minister wants security and development for all. West Bengal has tremendous advantages like geographical location, ample availability of raw materials and skilled manpower. What we need is accommodating opposite views since opposite views often prove to be right, he said.
BGBS started in 2015 and this is the sixth edition of the annual event, which is happening again after a gap of two years. In 2019 and 2020, the event was not conducted because of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown situation.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Business tycoons like Adani Group Chairman, Shri Gautam Adani; JSW chairman, Shri Sajjan Jindal; Executive Chairman of Wipro, Shri Rishad Prasad; Managing Director of Tata Steel and chief of CII, Shri T V Narendran were present at the summit among others. A total of 250 business representatives from 19 countries participated in the BGBS.
Ministry of Textiles
Status of Boards for Handloom and Handicrafts
The decision to disband All India Handicrafts Board  and All India Handloom Board  was taken based on a thorough review of the functioning of the Board. The assessment revealed that weavers from across the Nation did not benefit from the Board which barely met, and did not take weavers across all States into confidence. There was no contribution from the Board as regards policy formulation and its implementation.
On the other hand, the Weavers’ Service Centres and the State Handloom departments have been working well in good coordination through interactions on policy, implementation of Government schemes, educating weavers about online marketing platforms including efforts to onboard weavers on Government e-marketplace , and addressing the problems of handloom weavers through Chaupals.
This information was given in a written reply by the Union Minister of Textiles Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani in Rajya Sabha today.